When Sullivan’s teenage daughter became interested in sailing, Williams offered her a spot on his boat. “I’ll take you under my wing,” Sullivan recalled his friend telling the girl. “He was kind of treating her like his practice teenager.”

Most of all, Sullivan remembered how enamored Williams was with his wife and daughter. Their families went to Legoland together recently, and Williams took Claire on a boat ride there. The little girl went from exhilarated to scared during the ride, and “there was Dad, protecting her.”

Williams worked at an architecture and design firm. Jim Shaw, who sat next to him, recently met Williams’ family.

“I remember thinking how he beamed with a big smile like a proud husband admiring his love for his wife and family, and I thought how lucky is he to feel so completely happy,” Shaw wrote in an email.

Williams’ colleagues said he didn’t mention racing much at work, but that was his other big love. He was also a member of the Cortez Racing Association and his boat had an illustrious history, winning races before he bought it.

“We need to maintain the name of Uproarious,” he’d tell the crew, Sullivan recalled.